


Living in the Reverie

by MikeWritesThings (orphan_account)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Human, Dark Fantasy, Death, Drugs, F/F, F/M, FLARP, Family, Graphic Scenes, Hurt/Comfort, LARPing, M/M, Nightmares, Possibly Virska/Terezi, Sad, Sadstuck, Schizophrenia, Sisterly Love, Underage Drinking, Visions, dangerous character, extreme violence, insane asylum, living in ones head, voices
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-31
Updated: 2015-08-31
Packaged: 2018-04-18 06:07:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4694942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/MikeWritesThings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Your name is Terezi Pyrope.</p><p>/No, it's Teresa Palos./</p><p>You are a troll.</p><p>/You are a human girl./</p><p>You are six sweeps old, and have a fine sense of justice.</p><p>/You are thirteen years old, and how do you have the slightest idea of what justice is?/</p><p>You live on the wonderful planet of Alternia.</p><p>/You're in a ward at the asylum./</p><p>Teresa Palos (preferring to be called Terezi Pyrope) is a thirteen-year-old girl in a mental asylum centered around younger patients such as herself and her friends, Vicky Seremet (Vriska Serket) and Kieran Vantas (Karkat Vantas.)</p><p>You and a couple of other friends enjoy LARPing a game you have made up, one where you are trolls on a different planet, a nice change from the same white walls you face every day. The game soon seems to become reality, and violence breaks out. The game seems to be taking over you, and you can't tell what's real or what's fake anymore. You have become one with the game.</p><p>You're convinced there is an evil lurking within your group of role players, and you trust your best friend, Vicky, your fellow Scourge Sister, to help you find it. Something tells you that whatever it is, it isn't pretty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Important notes:
> 
> Some of the characters in here (such as Karkat and Kankri Vantas) that would normally be siblings in AU's have been changed to not be related. I think it would be kind of strange if all these siblings were in asylums together. ._. So Karkat and Kankri will have different last names.
> 
> Some of the characters in this story (Such as Terezi) have actual names. For example, Terezi--->Teresa. The secondary names (Teresa, Vicky) won't be used much, only by the staff and other such things. This is still their role-playing world.
> 
> If such things at LGBT, drugs, abuse, rape, underage drinking, violence, graphic scenes, child-on-child violence bother you, please read at your own risk.

There's something strange and unsettling about how easily your reality can quickly merge with your fantasy and confuse you.  It’s weird when you wake up and you are still convinced that the dragon killed your mom and dad. You forget it was the car crash that did it, not a roaring red dragon attacking your own deep blue colored one that wrapped its protective wing around you. You wake up and forget that you were raised by humans in an orphanage, but instead by flesh-eating terrors in a prison where they fed you only the remains of past inmates. The therapist of your ward, the nice lady Calliope, tells you that it’s because of your schizophrenia that you have trouble differing reality and fantasy. You tell her no. You are certain these things are real, because your imagination could never come up with things as awful as it did.

There was a time, years ago, when you remembered happiness. Knew what the emotion felt like. You still remember when your mother sewed you that dragon plushie, the one you keep under your arm when you sleep and the snores of your ward mates fill the room. Natalie’s is almost like a purr. Vicky seems silent for a few seconds before a few great big snores erupt. Then she’s silent again. It’s a pattern.  Amanda never goes to sleep. Sometimes you don’t, either. You lie awake, dragon plushie clenched tightly. You used to have other dragon plushies, ones bought from toy stores that didn’t look anything like the ones your mom sewed you. You hung those dragon plushies with string from the ceiling. They still hang there.

You only have three of the dragons your mother sewed you. Your favorite is Chief Deputy Pyralspite, Pyralspite for short. Lemonsnout and Berrybreath guard your bed at night, stationed at your bedside table. They protect you from the villainous Arachne, the horrendous stuffed spider Vicky has. You hate it with a passion, but you don’t tell her that.

Half the time you find yourself unable to sleep, and when you do, you get up and wander around the ward. The asylum is small, on low budget, and struggling, so many of you share rooms. Sometimes there’s not enough room, so some of you sleep out in the hallways and media rooms. Only the ones that are trusted enough, however. You sleep in a regular room with four other girls. It’s nearly impossible to open the doors from the inside unless you have a key, and you do. You steal them from Calliope’s office. If you’re ever caught out of your room at night, which happens once in a blue moon, you get the key confiscated and miss out on dinner privileges. But you always manage to get a new key.

Most of your nightly wanderings you had spent alone for the better part of six months. Wandering the hallways and standing on tip toe to peer through the windows and glimpse at the high chain fences that were beginning to rust, with small holes at the corners. Just beyond the trees surrounding the area you can see the twinkling lights of the city. You sometimes seek out good hiding places-under tables and inside closets that aren’t locked-and spend hours in there with a couple of your plushies. You started calling them Scalemates when that nice kid, Travis, suggested the name.

Tonight, you venture out in the hallways, making your way to the other side of the asylum-where the boys slept. You are curious to know whether the windows over there revealed more of that shining city in the far-off distance. To your surprise and slightl fright, you see two figures awake and sitting in a corner, moving their hands in what you assume is a game of sorts. It looks a bit like rock-paper-scissors. You freeze, but it’s too late, their heads have already turned towards you. You feel cold, your bare feet seemingly glued to the floor. You can’t move. One of the figures-the smaller one, scrambles to their feet and when they draw to their full height, and the moon casts a beam of light on him, you are relieved to see it’s a child just like you. He is nine, it seems, just like you, but you can tell he’s obviously a few inches shorter than you. This makes you giggle. He has wild hair and dark eyes.

The second boy is taller than the both of you. He has hair that looks dishevelled, as if it’s normally neat, and large glasses. For some reason he’s wearing a scarf.

“Who’re you?” The taller boy asks, and his voice sounds funny. You look up at him with wide eyes, unsure of what to say. Pyralspite is tucked underneath your arm. The smaller boy steps forward, stepping on tiptoe so he’s nearly eye-level with you. Even on tip-toe, he’s two inches shorter.

“Who are you?” His voice is squeaky. You feel the corners of your mouth twitch. The small boy spots the Scalemate underneath your arm and within an instant snatches it away from you. You stare with wide eyes as he scurries away from you, expecting you to attempt to snatch it back. He keeps an eye on you for a few seconds, before returning his gaze to the Scalemate. The red button eyes of Pyralspite stare back up at his face. The taller boy peers over the smaller one’s shoulder.

You feel your small fists clench, but you do nothing. You just feel frozen. You want to shrink into yourself and scurry back to your ward. Years of being that friendless girl sitting in the corner with only stupid dragon toys has taken it’s affect on you. You are as social as a brick wall.

“What the fuck is this?” The boy with the squeaky voice throws it back towards you harshly. You watch as it bounces off your chest and falls to the ground. Pyralspite’s snout is pressed into the ground. You bow your head to avert your gaze from the boy’s. This was a bad idea. They’re scaring you.

“Look, she’s scared,” You hear the sneer in taller one’s voice. Your fists clench tighter. A pair of hands are suddenly on your cheeks, small palms warm, and the short boy is forcing your head up. His voice is still squeaky and loud, despite his efforts to keep it low.

“Why are you here? You’re a girl,” He’s glaring at you. You don’t know what to say or do. He’s smaller than you, definitely lighter, and all you can do is stand here. The prickling feeling of someone watching you from behind causes you to glance backwards, but nobody is there.

He moves his hands to your shoulders, shakes you a bit roughly to get a response. His sleeves are rolled up. You see long scratched, cut marks on his forearms. They must hurt. You grab his forearm and dig a nail into one of the fresher-looking scratches. He doesn’t wince. Or flinch. His eyes just slide over to where your nail is digging into his skin. You’ve drawn blood.

He pulls his forearm away, but you don’t loosen your grip. You let your thumb sharply slide across his skin as he pulls it away and he examines the cut skin with interest. He doesn’t look hurt at all. The taller boy stares at him as well, though when the smaller boy looks back up at him, his eyes flit away. You give them the same blank stare, your thumbnail bloodied slightly. You smile.

They watch you bend down and pick up Pyralspite. You step backwards, watching them, making sure they don’t follow you, and you turn around, padding away. They’re silent.

The next night you venture towards that area again, all three of your Scalemates in your arms. You hope to see them again. When you enter the media area you had found them in, they’re sitting on the couch. You pad up to them, and their heads snap towards you, eyes narrowed, watching, squinting. When you reach the couch, the smaller boy draws his knees up as if afraid you’d touch him.

You dump your Scalemates on the floor and sit down with Pyralspite. Lemonsnout and Berrybreath seem to stare up at the boys.

  
“What,” The taller boy says, “The fuck are those.”

You stare at them silently, willing for them to join. They don’t. So you take Lemonsnout, and shove it into the taller boy’s lap. You begin to push Berrybreath into the small one’s lap, but he shakes his head violently and shoves you away.

“Stop it,” He says, “I don’t wanna play with you!”

You stare at him. He stares back. The tall boy takes Lemonsnout and examines him. He shows Lemonsnout to the smaller boy.

“You still didn’t answer my question,” He huffs, “From last night.”

You sit on the floor, hands on your knees, and look back up at him. You’re inviting him to join you on the floor. He doesn’t accept. It’s a staring contest full of glaring, and with a little sigh you gather up your Scalemates, taking Lemonsnout from the taller boy. You shuffle away into the corner and sit down, watching them. You’re not leaving this area. You’re not admitting defeat.

A couple of hours pass with you silently playing with your Scalemates. Lemonsnout has killed Berrybreath. Pyralspite is prosecuting him.  The boys talk quietly to one another, but you don’t listen in. Suddenly one of them is sitting across from you, and when you look up, the small boy is taking Berrybreath cautiously in his hands and examining it. After a moment of surprise, you mumble quietly,

“Teresa.”

“What?” He asks. You flinch slightly at the loudness of his voice. You stare at him for a while before allowing a smile to split your face.

“Terezi.”

“You just said Teresa,” He points out. You scrunch up your face. You were not Teresa. You were Terezi. Terezi Pyrope. Terezi Pyrope was a fierce and fearless figure of the law. The small boy stares up at you for a moment before saying,

“Kieran.”

You cock your head to side and he scratches behind his ear, before his eyes light up and he says, “Karkat.”

You like Karkat better.


	2. Chapter Two

The next few nights you spend with Kieran and Eren. Both boys were confused as to why you called yourself Terezi rather than Teresa, but you told them it’s so you could be somebody else. So you wouldn’t be Teresa Palos, stuck in an asylum. You’d be Terezi Pyrope, living in an awesome world where dragons were real and these two were your trusty companions. After encouraging both of them to come up with nicknames of their own, Kieran stuck with Karkat, and Eren came up with Eridan.

You learn a few things from the two of them the couple of nights you played with them. Karkat has trouble keeping his voice down, and seems rather indifferent to injury. Eridan has a habit of mumbling ‘nyeh’ when agitated, and always keeps looking over his shoulder, as if he was being watched. When you ask him why, his eyebrows draw together and he whispers,“So you can’t see them either?”

There’s nothing there, you tell him. Nothing to worry about. But just to be sure, you keep peering over your own shoulder as well.

Eridan favors Lemonsnout, which you don’t mind, but Karkat likes Pyralspite best, so you both have a little tug-of-war as soon as you enter the media room. You usually win, but you like Karkat enough to let him win occasionally. When he does win, he clutches Pyralspite triumphantly, fingers digging into the Scalemate's stomach. You guess Berrybreath is okay.

Eridan plays okay enough. Karkat is the type of child that makes their toy kill everybody. Berrybreath and Lemonsnout where in the middle of discussing a world made of candy canes and gumdrops when Pyralspite was knocked into them and Karkat declared them dead, with a huffy “I win!” and hugging Pyralspite into his chest. You puff out your cheeks in irritation, restarting the game with annoyance. You only ever see the two for a couple of hours at night, until you escape away back to your own area to peer out the windows. You haven’t forgotten your fascination with the twinkling lights in the distance.

On the sixth night, Scalemates in hand, wearing socks because you’re tired of feeling the cold floor, you walk down the hallways, the darkness slightly comforting in the knowledge that if Calliope were to wake and look out her window, you would be well concealed. You know something is wrong as soon as you enter the media room.

Eridan is curled up into himself, seemingly making himself smaller, sobbing into his hands. The muffled sniffs echo around the room. Karkat is rubbing his back, an apathetic, indifferent look on his face. The small boy scares you sometimes. is face remains a blank slate, and only seems to express emotion when enraged. You crouch down next to Eridan, concerned, but Karkat lashes out at you.

“Go away!” He whisper-shouts, which is the quietest you’ve ever heard him. You stare at him before dropping your Scalemates to the floor, sitting on your knees. Karkat is furious.

“Go away!” He says again, only this time it’s louder. You hunch your shoulders up to your ears, shoving Pyralspite into his chest. It’s a peace offering.

Eridan sniffles and says something in a low voice.

“Go away,” Karkat repeats, but this time with forced kindness. You ignore him.

“What’s the matter?” You ask quietly, and Eridan looks up at you. He isn’t wearing his glasses. His eyes are wide and glassy, reflective.

“I killed them,” He whispers, and your heart gives a few nervous flutters when you hear that. You hear it ever now and then, in movies and other patients describing nightmares. But Eridan sounds so sincere it makes you wonder why he’s here. Eridan is relatively normal by your standards. He only see what others don’t, which is the same for you. It frustrates you to no end when Vicky says she doesn’t see the tall woman with golden-hued hair standing behind her.

But now you wonder just how normal Eridan is. No way he was normal and stuck inside a mental ward. It just didn’t happen. Karkat folds his arms across his chest and for a few minutes, nobody says anything. Eridan is still staring at you with glassy eyes, and it’s starting to scare you. So you get up, gather your toys, and walk slowly away, backwards, to keep an eye on the two boys. Their eyes follow you out.

When you return to your ward, Amanda looks up from the corner in which she sits, watching the other girls sleep. She doesn’t talk and she doesn't sleep. She’s skinnier than the rest of you, like a toothpick. You lie awake that night, staring at the hanging dragons. Kelly frequently tells you it’s creepy, but you don’t see how. The next day at lunch, a plan forms in your mind. You’re going to find Karkat and Eridan during lunch.

Your eyes slide over the lunch room, and you instantly spy a short boy with wild, poofy hair, a sour look on his face. You race over to him, and someone barks something about no running in the building. Karkat gives you a look of surprise as you sit down next to him and the first thing out of your mouth is, “Where’s Eridan?”

“Therapist. He should be coming back soon. He has to go,” Karkat pauses to take a bite of his sandwich, chewing slowly, “Every morning.”

You frown and cross your arms, and the boy sitting across from Karkat says, “Hey!”

You look up at him and your eyes widen in surprise. One of his eyes is a normal blue, and the other is a discolored, strange red. He has glass on, which resemble old-fashioned 3D glasses. They’re slipping down his nose and he has to keep pushing them up.

“Who’re you?” He asks. His voice is funny, “Why ain’t you sittin’ with the girls?”

You want to tell him you can sit where you want. You want to tell him Karkat is your friend. But you can’t talk, you can’t speak, because now a couple of other boys are staring at you. You recognize Travis, the boy with the mohawk, but the other two boys you don’t know. One has hair even crazier than Karkat’s and a strange, lethargic smile. The second one has spiky blond hair and anime-like sunglasses. They’re all bigger than you, save Travis and Karkat, but Travis is close. You stand up, and five pairs of eyes follow you. They look unforgiving. Intimidating. You rush off to your own table, where Feferi is building a castle out of milk cartons, and Vicky is drawing. You ask her if you can see the drawing. It’s a crude sketch of herself wrapped in a spider’s web. It creeps you out.

After lunch, it’s your weekly talk with Calliope. She smiles and asks you to sit in the little white rocking chair. You don’t like that rocking chair. Every other rocking chair reminds you of it and you hate them now. But you sit on the chair anyways, fists clenched on your knees as you answer her questions. How many hours of sleep did you get this week? Twenty-one, you say. Have you had any nightmares? No, just the same dream. Is there anything new you need to tell Calliope? Your knuckles whiten as you think about Karkat and Eridan. How you play with them at night. That Karkat kind of scares you. That you’re worried for Eridan.

You shake your head.

When you leave the room, another one of the schizophrenics-Rose-walks past you. You don’t talk to her that much.

That night, you don’t venture out. You ask Vicky if she will play with you instead. She says yes.

You’re Redglare. She’s Mindfang. Together, you’re exploring the seas. You have Pyralspite by your side, your trusty companion. Arachne is the villainous monster keeping Berrybreath captive.

You leap from your ship to Mindfang’s, careful of the lava boiling below. Mindfang giggles as you nearly fall off the ship. Her hand grabs your upper arm and she yanks you safely onto her soft-padded ship. Mindfang pulls you to your feet and you point to Arachne, sitting atop Amanda's abandoned vessel.

You grab Mindfang’s hand, interlocking fingers, afraid you would both plummet to your deaths with one wrong step. On the count of three, you jump, you tell her.

“One,” Mindfang says, grip tightening, grin widening.

“Two,” You announced. Captain Natalie looks up, annoyance on her face from her own lone ship across the sea. She disapproves of your late night adventures.

“Three!” You both yelp, and take a mighty leap. Mindfang lands safely on Amanda's lonesome ship with triumph. You, however, fall short. You land in the lava and shriek. Mindfang looks horrified as you cry out, “Avenge me!” With a spin, Mindfang uses a mighty kick to send Arachne flying.

Berrybreath sighs in relief as he is freed from his prison. Mindfang sinks to her knees with Berrybreath. She laments on how much of a good pirate you are. She gets a sudden idea, and, with magic, brings you back to life. She pulls you onto the ship and you bow in thanks. Mindfang says you two should adventure more often,

You agree.

That night you lay with all three of your Scalemates on your bed, listening to the other’s deep breathing. The great snores from Vicky are absent, and you realize she’s still awake.

“Vicky?”

“Yeah?” Her voice is loud, but not as loud as Karkat’s. You wonder how he and Eridan are doing tonight.

“I had fun. We make a great team.”

“I know, right?” There’s a pause before Vicky says, “I wondered why you never played with me before.”

You turn on your side to face her bed, and see she is facing you as well. One of her eyes is a bit lazy.

“I thought you were super creepy,” You tell her honestly. She giggles, and you half-smile back.

“And I thought you were weird,” Vicky’s eyes were shining, “But we are so awesome at games, Teresa.”

You frown. You don’t like being addressed by that name, so you say, “Terezi.”

“What?” Vicky looks confused.

“Call me Terezi,” You stroke the top of Pyralspite’s head softly. Vicky’s face scrunches up as she asks,

“Why?”

“I like Terezi better,” You say quietly, “It makes me feel like a different person. Like I don’t live here in the crazy house.”

Vicky gives a thoughtful hum.

“Can I have a nickname too?”

You nod, and her eyes flash eagerly. She purses her lips before smiling again. It widens.

“Vriska.”

You blink before smiling, hugging Pyralspite tightly.

“Hi, Vriska.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You don’t play with Karkat and Eridan for a couple of days. You play with Vriska-Mindfang-instead.

Mindfang is an amazing pirate, you learn, with epic powers. She’s mighty and badass, and you wish you could have created such a character. Vriska says she likes Redglare, so you suppose Redglare isn’t all that bad. You don’t see Karkat and Eridan at lunch, either, because you're too busy playing with Vriska, and Amanda too. She communicates in actions rather than words. She’s a strange girl, but you don’t mind. She invites Travis, who you weren’t aware liked these kinds of games either. Your days and nights are  filled with adventures into tombs and raiding ships. Amanda and Travis invade you and Mindfang’s ship the most. The two of them came up with nicknames for themselves. Amanda used a name from a book-Aradia-and Travis coined Tavros from his own name.

Your tenth birthday approaches quickly, and you long for the day so you can eat cake and cotton candy, rare things for patients in a mental ward.

With excitement of this news, you tell Vriska and Aradia that you won’t be able to play tonight. Vriska asks you why, but you just shake your head. You don’t answer.

As the night continues you wait for Vriska to fall asleep before you slide out of bed, unlock the door, and close it silently. You don’t have any of your Scalemates with you tonight. You race down the hallway, skinny legs pale white in the silvery light shining from the windows. You enter the familiar media room, and you instantly spy Karkat on the couch, watching the lights of the city through the windows. You waddle up to him, feeling happy to see him. He was a little annoying, loud, and scary, but he was food company. At least, for a week, he had managed to fill this tiny hole you never knew you had. He and Eridan both. You slide onto the couch with him, not saying anything. He looks up, frowns.

“Go away.”

“No,” You say, and his frown deepens.

“I’ll scream, and it’s make the warden come here,” He threatens, and you slide off the couch, not willing to take such a risk. Karkat shrinks back into himself, and you stand there awkwardly. You feel as if you’re being watched. One glance over your shoulder. Nobody’s there.

You turn back to Karkat. He’s watching you. You swallow heavily, suddenly feeling very afraid. He’s small and tiny and pathetic, but he intimidates you. You back up slightly, and his eyes continue to follow you. After a few silent moments,  you take a deep breath and announce,

“My birthday is in two days.”

Karkat cocks his head to the side, shoulders rising up to his ears in a shrug. He doesn’t care. You stand there, bare feet planted to the floor, fists curled. You want to become invisible. You want to curl away to your corner, like you always do. The voice in your head tells you to keep your ground. You bite your lip at Karkat’s unforgiving nature. You think, _Would Mindfang be like this?_

The answer is no. She would plow bravely on. So you take another breath, and say,

“I want you to be there.”

Karkat says nothing.

You take a few steps back, feeling sheepish. Fearful. But to your surprise, he mumbles quietly,

“I will.”

**Author's Note:**

> Name guide as to not confuse-
> 
> Terezi Pyrope-Teresa Palos
> 
> Vriska Serket-Vicky Seremet
> 
> Karkat Vantas-Kieran Vantas
> 
> Sollux Captor-Alex Captor
> 
> Kanaya Maryam-Kelly Maryam
> 
> Aradia Megido-Amanda Megido
> 
> Gamzee Makara-Gabriel Mirandas
> 
> Equius Zahhak-Ethan Zechar
> 
> Feferi Piexes-Feferi Piexes
> 
> Nepeta Leijon-Natalie Logan
> 
> Eridan Ampora-Eren Amedro
> 
> Tavros Nitram-Travis Nitchals
> 
> Latula Pyrope-Lara Pastorn
> 
> Araena Serket-Alana Sanders
> 
> Kankri Vantas-Kankri Vantas
> 
> Mituna Captor-Michael Cradus
> 
> Porrim Maryam-Paris Madine
> 
> Damara Megido- Debbie Maristo
> 
> Kurloz Makara-Keith Malecki
> 
> Horuss Zahhak- Horuss Zaharis
> 
> Meenah Piexes-Miranda Petrullo
> 
> Meulin Leijon-Melanie Longstreth
> 
> Cronus Ampora-Caden Amedro
> 
> Rufioh Nitram-Russel Nitram
> 
> Rose Lalonde-Rose Lalonde
> 
> Roxy Lalonde-Roxy Lennings
> 
> Dirk Strider-Dirk Strider
> 
> Dave Strider-Dave Strider
> 
> Jake English- Jake English
> 
> John Egbert- John Egbert
> 
> Jade Harley-Jade Hummers
> 
> Jane Crocker-Janet Crock


End file.
